Participants:
Series Code: FGOY
Program Code: FGOY000008S
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00:01 Welcome to "For Guys Only,"
00:02 a program that deals with topics 00:04 specifically geared to the urban man. 00:07 I'm Pastor William Lee. 00:08 And I'm so thankful that you have joined us on today. 00:10 Today, we're going to talk about mentoring, 00:13 the need to mentor our urban youth. 00:16 Stay tuned as we go right into our broadcast. 00:35 Gentlemen, it is, once again, 00:37 it's so good to have you all today 00:39 and to be able to discuss topics 00:41 that affect the urban man. 00:43 Today, we have another very exciting topic. 00:45 But before we get into that topic, 00:46 let's first just take a moment to introduce ourselves 00:49 to those who are viewing us today. 00:51 I'll start right here. Yes, my name is Brandon Dent. 00:55 I am a retired auto executive, 27 years. 00:59 I'm now running my own marketing company. 01:03 And I'm a lead mentor for a program called 01:06 Be Men here in the Detroit area, 01:10 reaching out to black males. 01:13 Okay. Good, good. 01:14 My name is Colin King. 01:15 I'm a father, a mentor, psychologist, 01:20 husband, a friend, and a black male. 01:24 All right. All right. 01:26 Appreciate that very much. 01:27 My name is Muta Mwenya, 01:29 executive director for the Elijah 3 Ministries. 01:31 And I too, I'm a mentor, 01:34 and work within the urban community 01:36 with some young men. 01:37 All right, good. 01:39 And now of course, I'm Pastor William Lee, 01:40 pastor at the Capitol City Seventh-day Adventist church, 01:43 Indianapolis, Indiana, 01:45 pastor of the Lake Region Conference, 01:46 married seven years, two children. 01:48 And I mentor my two children, 01:51 as well as some of the young people 01:53 within our church as well. 01:54 So let's talk about this concept right now 01:56 because I mean, in reality, we see that for the most part, 02:02 our young black boys are not receiving mentors. 02:07 I mean, they're just, they're out there, 02:09 and they're looking around, trying to figure out, 02:11 you know, the best person, 02:13 you know, to kind of steer them, 02:16 whether it's in a positive direction sometimes 02:19 or in the negative direction. 02:21 Well, look at the Bible as we go forth 02:23 but what do you all sense as it relates to mentorship, 02:28 especially as it relates to the urban youth? 02:32 Well, I think that, you know, urban youth, first of all, 02:36 have a greater need 02:38 because of the absence of many fathers. 02:42 And we've talked about that in several 02:45 or at least couple of our previous episodes. 02:48 So you have a greater need 02:51 and yet you have less of the solution. 02:55 So that gap is as wider for us 03:00 as a people because of those two things. 03:03 Okay. Okay. 03:04 What else do we see here? 03:06 Because, you know, the Bible is absolutely clear. 03:08 The Bible says in 1 Peter 2:17, 03:12 it says, "Honor all men. 03:15 Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. 03:17 Fear God. And honor the king." 03:20 The Bible specifically says we have to honor all men 03:23 and then to love the brotherhood 03:25 and as we see in our society today, 03:27 once again is that we have to make an effort 03:30 to make an impact in the lives of our young people. 03:34 And what can we do? 03:35 Brandon, you talked about that 03:36 you are a part of a mentor program right now 03:40 in the Detroit area. 03:41 Talk about a little bit about 03:43 what's happening in that program. 03:44 Well, we go in, and we take topics, 03:49 different topics, where we know there is a need 03:53 for development, things like conflict resolution, 03:59 preparing for success. 04:01 You know, success doesn't just come. 04:04 We wonder why we don't have and they do. 04:07 Well, you need to understand what goes on behind the scenes. 04:11 There's preparation is built into their pattern of success. 04:16 We need to learn how to do some of that, 04:18 how to treat a woman, you know, a young lady, 04:21 how to show respect 04:23 when you come into a building... 04:24 Just things like take your hat off. 04:27 A lot of people, even older guys, 04:30 now just kind of keep their hats on in indoors. 04:33 And I'm not condemning anybody, 04:35 but I think to teach the young men 04:38 some of these older habits. 04:43 It's refreshing to see them gravitate and say, 04:46 you know what, I do want to be distinctive, 04:47 I do want to attain 04:50 a high level of being a gentleman 04:53 and holding doors. 04:55 And, you know, some of the guys will come back and say, 04:57 "Well, a lot of girls don't want you 04:58 holding the door for them." 05:00 And then we say, "Well, you don't 05:02 let the door go," you know? 05:04 But there's no harm in trying. Okay. 05:07 But you don't have to force it 05:08 on someone who's not ready for it. 05:10 But I think that... 05:12 What I like is the fact that these young people 05:16 are actually responding to love. 05:19 You can put a lot of different topics on the table, 05:22 once they understand these guys care about us, 05:25 they love us. 05:26 And so I think the most important thing 05:28 right up front is you have to be doing... 05:30 You can't be doing it just because, you know, 05:33 condescending way. 05:34 All these guys are messed up and I'm not, 05:36 and so let me try to help fix them now. 05:39 You got to look at them as this is the brotherhood. 05:43 And I need to be extending love to them. 05:45 And once they see that, then they'll open up 05:48 and they'll let you minister to them 05:50 on these other matters. 05:51 Okay. Awesome. Awesome. Dr. King. 05:52 You know, Brandon is absolutely right. 05:54 You know, we have strayed away from our roots. 05:57 You know, we're from Africa, originally. 06:00 And we were supposed to be raised by a village, 06:05 by our cousins, and our aunts, and our uncles. 06:08 That's how we were meant to be raised. 06:10 But currently, we live in a very individualistic society, 06:14 with every man for himself. 06:16 To the extent whereby I can see my friend's son 06:21 or a black youth, getting himself in trouble. 06:24 And I can tell myself, "I'm not getting involved." 06:27 You know, I'm not getting involved 06:28 because I don't want anyone to blame me. 06:30 And so because of that, we have a lot of black youth 06:35 who are not properly mentored, you know? 06:38 And as I said before, 06:39 we've got about 62% of urban youth 06:44 who are being raised by a single parent. 06:47 And if, as professionals, we don't step in, 06:51 then who's going to step in? 06:52 You know, I recall, a few months ago, 06:55 I invited a group of young people 06:58 over to my house and because I'd seen a tape 07:02 and substance abuse on what marijuana 07:06 does to the human brain. 07:08 And I really wanted to impart that information to them 07:12 without lecturing them. 07:14 So I made it into type of, sort of, a competition. 07:16 I said, "Guys, you have a chance to win $50. 07:20 Come over to my house, 07:21 I'm going to give you a quiz but in order to know the answer 07:26 to the quiz or the answers, I'm going to show you a tape. 07:29 And once you view the tape, you answer the question. 07:33 This is what you're going to get." 07:35 And I was amazed at their enthusiasm. 07:38 And I'm thinking if as professionals, 07:40 if as mentors we can take the time 07:43 to make the time to do stuff like that, 07:45 we could make a difference. 07:47 Yeah. 07:48 And I think that's the key 07:49 that you just said right there that we take the time. 07:52 You know, we have been blessed by God 07:55 to be a blessing to others. 07:56 We have to keep those blessings to ourselves. 07:59 And I think that we can do some very practical things 08:02 as it relates to taking time out of our schedules 08:05 to be able to help somebody else 08:07 along the rail. 08:08 It's as simple as this, you know, 08:10 especially in churches, lot of people say, 08:12 "What can my church do to help mentor? 08:14 What can we do even 08:15 as a men's ministry to help mentor?" 08:17 There are some things 08:18 so simple as teaching young boys 08:21 how to tie a tie, you know? 08:23 We want our boys to be professional at some point. 08:25 We want them to be able to walk into an interview 08:27 and have a nice knot in their tie. 08:30 But a lot of times, if there's not been someone 08:32 there to teach them how to do that, 08:34 they just won't have any idea, you know, 08:35 or even a bow tie 08:37 or whatever it is that you're wearing right now. 08:38 Teaching our young boys how to shave! 08:41 You'd be surprised that there are so many, 08:43 you know, boys growing up that 08:44 just don't have anyone to tell them, 08:46 "Hey, don't go aggress the grain, 08:48 go, you know, with it." 08:49 You know, have a good smooth shave that way. 08:51 So Dr. King what you saying, 08:52 you know, I think it's very, very Echobel to our world, 08:56 to our society today that 08:58 we got to take the time to do it. 09:00 Also, we need to get in step with them. 09:02 You know, we need to keep up. 09:04 You know, our kids are being raised by Facebook and Twitter, 09:09 and all of the other social media. 09:12 And I've learned if my kids are out 09:13 or their friends are out, and I want to reach them, 09:16 and I call them on the phone, they don't answer. 09:19 They just don't answer. 09:20 But if I send them a text, they respond right away. 09:23 So we've got to learn 09:25 how to keep up with what has their interest. 09:27 Yeah, that's true. 09:29 Muta, talk a little bit about your experience as a mentor. 09:32 Especially, as you work 09:33 in the urban city with urban youth, 09:36 what's been your experience with mentorship? 09:40 As Brandon said, we can't come with this looking down on, 09:45 "I'm here to help you," you know, 09:47 like you're this handout. 09:49 And there's one phrase that kind of gets me every time 09:53 somebody says that, they say, "I'm working with him." 09:58 He goes like, kid that I'm working with, 10:00 "What do you mean you're working with them?" 10:02 Now as adults, as professionals, 10:05 we may understand what he's saying. 10:07 But if that kid ever hears you say, 10:09 "I'm working with him," now all of a sudden, 10:12 "I'm some robot, 10:13 I'm some broken thing that you're trying..." 10:15 Some project, exactly, that you're trying to fix. 10:19 Having a genuine love for them. Christ says... 10:23 Paul says, if you have not love, 10:26 you know, that should be 10:30 the foundation of the mentorship, 10:32 the mentor, mentoree relationship, 10:35 it should be love. 10:36 It shouldn't be out of, 10:37 "This is what I need to do as a man, 10:40 so I'm just going to go do it," because then it's not genuine. 10:43 So I found that their most responsive 10:46 when they realize that, 10:47 "Wow, this guy's really genuine." 10:49 And although, it gets tough sometimes, 10:51 especially dealing with urban young people 10:55 sticking to it, even in those tough times, 10:59 really shows them that you love them. 11:00 So I think that's really big. 11:02 That's good. That's good. Yeah. 11:03 You know, I just heard a sermon that talked about 11:08 when you minister, you have to come to realize 11:12 that God calls you to minister, 11:15 not so much for what you could do 11:17 but if you minister too 11:20 but because it ministers to you. 11:24 There is spiritual progress that you cannot make, 11:29 except you do that ministry. 11:32 And that's a humbling piece. 11:35 You know, when we start to realize that 11:38 the child is not the project, I'm the project. 11:40 I am the project. Yeah, that's right. 11:42 You know, I'm the project. 11:43 So I thought that was a very powerful, 11:46 and it shapes the attitude that we have when we go to minister. 11:51 That's good. That's good. 11:52 Dr. King, talk a little bit about, 11:53 again, some of the historical perspective 11:57 as relates to mentorship, 12:00 especially again, in the urban community, 12:03 these black boys, you know? 12:05 And we all have sons, and we all know the challenges 12:09 but what else can we do especially as men 12:13 to make a difference in their lives? 12:15 Sure. 12:17 You know, we need to be always aware that 12:19 our values are not taught, values are caught. 12:25 So, you know, as we interact with them, 12:29 as we mentor, we're not teaching them 12:32 by the things we see, 12:34 we're teaching them by the things we do. 12:36 You know, I've got an elder in my church. 12:39 He's a physician. 12:41 I'm saying that because he's extremely busy. 12:44 But I've seen him take time off from his busy schedule 12:48 to coach the young kids in my church 12:50 to play basketball. 12:52 And my son, he's 6'3" and, you know, 12:55 I'm always saying, "You are so uncoordinated. 12:59 Play a sport, play a sport!" 13:00 And he has never played basketball before. 13:03 He has never played basketball. And I was amazed. 13:07 Two weeks ago, you know, I sat and watch him play, 13:10 all because of the mentorship of this elder in the church. 13:15 And as a matter of fact, 13:16 Brandon was playing the game right after. 13:21 So, yeah, so the values... 13:24 So values are not taught, values are caught. 13:28 So I think it's critical for us to model 13:31 what we want to see in them. 13:34 Because when you look at the biblical way of life, 13:39 the younger man sat at the feet of the older man. 13:43 And they were taught certain biblical principles. 13:48 They were taught certain financial principles, 13:50 certain social principles. 13:54 And some of these young men 13:56 didn't necessarily have a father 13:58 but an older man, took them under their wings 14:01 and mentored them, you know, 14:02 once again, it comes back to this whole concept of, 14:05 it takes a village, you know, 14:07 it takes a village to raise a child. 14:10 That's good. That's good. 14:11 Is there a gap in the church, you know, we look at it... 14:15 I appreciate what you just said, 14:17 that takes, you know, the older men 14:18 must get with the younger men 14:20 and the younger men, by all means, 14:22 must respect the wisdom that comes from the older men 14:26 but is there a gap, you know, 14:28 that you all have noticed in the church, 14:30 especially as it relates to that concept 14:33 of the younger men listening to the older men? 14:35 Or even the older men wanting to be around 14:38 the younger men to take that time, you know, 14:39 and invested in, is there a gap at all? 14:41 And if so, and if there is a gap, 14:43 now what can we do to fill that gap? 14:45 Yeah, there is certainly is a whole generational gap. 14:50 And we have lost some of our young people 14:53 because we have failed them. 14:56 We haven't taken the time to figure out 14:58 how to identify with them, 15:01 we haven't taken the time to find out 15:02 what it is that is grabbing your attention 15:05 and trying to walk in your shoes 15:08 and trying to be there with them. 15:10 One of the things I'm seeing, you know, 15:11 I'm always critical about this in our church, 15:14 most of the officers are older people. 15:19 We need to put young people in those positions. 15:22 We need to train them first of all. 15:24 But we need to invest in them. 15:27 And we need to see them, 15:29 not necessarily as leaders of tomorrow 15:31 but leaders of today. 15:33 That's right. So there is a huge gap. 15:35 And we can narrow that gap by working with them now. 15:38 And let me just... 15:40 Let me 'cause this is so interesting, 15:41 that it's, you know, 15:43 it's almost amazing that we do it in the church 15:45 that way because it's for instance, sports, 15:48 you know, men, as we talked before, 15:50 we go all out for our boys or, you know, our girls, you know. 15:55 If we see there's some potential in them, 15:56 I know, I have friends that, you know, 15:59 and I know people that take their sons 16:01 and their children to the camps 16:03 for the entire summer, you know? 16:05 And they assign a mentor, you know, 16:07 with them to hone their skills, and they get that jump shot 16:11 just right, to get that pass right. 16:13 And we invest it on secular things. 16:16 But I think the point was taken that 16:17 we have to make sure that 16:18 we are investing it spiritually, 16:20 that we assign, and especially for those 16:23 who are coming into the church as well, 16:25 spiritual mentors, mentors that can help you 16:29 understand God in a way that this is Echobel, 16:33 that's practical into our everyday lives. 16:36 Absolutely. And I think that's critical. 16:37 You know, and we need to give them a chance 16:39 to make mistakes. 16:40 That's right. Yeah. 16:42 You know, they're not going to see 16:43 it quite like how we expect them to see. 16:44 That's right. 16:46 They're not going to dress quite like us. 16:48 Their pants are going to sag a little. 16:51 Their music is going to be different. 16:53 You know, their language is going to be different. 16:55 We don't want them to behave like us. 16:57 That's right. 16:58 But we want them to stay close to us 17:00 so that we can guide them and show them the right way. 17:04 Right. 17:05 And one of the reasons why they pull away, you know, 17:07 going back to this question about the gap 17:09 is because we create it. 17:11 We say, "Hey, listen, young man. 17:13 I don't like the way you dress. I don't like your music. 17:17 I don't like what you chitchat in the back pew of the church 17:21 or out in the hallways." 17:22 And not that all these things should just be accepted, 17:25 but it's the approach that I'm talking about. 17:27 You go through all of that, and you say, 17:28 "Okay, now let me mentor you." 17:31 It's not gonna work. 17:32 The kid is going to pull back 17:34 because you've already put a divide between, 17:37 you broaden the gap between you and them 17:39 and basically make your mentoring, 17:42 ministry, pretty ineffective in that situation. 17:46 Go ahead. 17:47 You know, what I found out 17:48 as well is that our young people, 17:51 man, they just want to be able to have a voice a lot of times. 17:54 They just want to be able to say 17:56 what's on their mind without, 17:58 again, being condemned, without being, 18:01 you know, so that, you did it wrong, 18:03 you know, you're doing it right. 18:04 They just want to be able to have a voice. 18:07 And then on top of that, 18:08 they want to be able to have somebody 18:09 and especially, a man, you think about it. 18:12 We told that in previous episode 18:13 about our affirmation, minutes to be affirmed, 18:16 you know, 'cause our ego and... 18:18 It means a lot, 18:19 you know, for a mentor or even another man 18:23 to come up to another man or to a young boy and say, 18:27 "You know what, you did that well." 18:29 You know, "You just knocked that out the frame." 18:32 And that always as it relates to sports, 18:34 you know? 18:36 It relates to, maybe if you're in a church setting, 18:37 you know, you're person to the scripture reading, 18:39 and they come out the pulpit, 18:40 and you give them a high-five, and you say, you know, 18:42 sometime, you know, "You did that! 18:44 Great! I'm proud of you!" 18:47 And those words, just say, "I'm proud of you," 18:49 that goes so much farther than anything else. 18:52 Now that boosts confidence, it boots everything else, 18:54 if we could just hear that more often. 18:57 I think that's where mentorship comes in. 18:59 Because if there is not a father in the hall 19:01 or if there's, you know, someone that's not, 19:03 you know, boosting that person 19:04 that believes there's somebody that's in your corner, 19:07 you know, somebody that's gonna call your name 19:09 and say, "Okay, you can do it, keep on going. 19:11 I know it looks bad right now but keep on trucking away." 19:15 And I know personally that when that happens, 19:17 I mean, you give it your best, you know? 19:19 I ran cross country in high school, 19:22 not across the country, 19:23 but I ran cross country, 3.1 miles. 19:27 And my father was there, he would come to me 19:29 so we're not going uphill, going down, 19:31 which is kind of a thing we do in life as well. 19:34 But what I appreciate is that on that journey, 19:36 there are people on the journey that were saying, all right, 19:39 "You just have one more mile left," right, 19:41 "one more mile!" "All right, you can do it. 19:43 You can do it!" 19:44 And then when I came across the homestretch, 19:46 there are people, you know, in my corner, 19:48 that were saying, "Come on, William! 19:50 Come on, William! Give it all you have!" 19:52 And, you know, as tired as I felt, 19:54 you know what, I gave it all I have. 19:56 I came into full sprint 19:58 because I wanted to finish strong. 20:00 And as it relates to, you know, 20:02 this world that we live in right now 20:04 we've got to teach our young boys 20:06 how to finish strong, not to give up, 20:08 not to throw in the towel, 20:09 in the time that we live in right now. 20:12 And cheer him on along the way. Yeah. 20:14 Yeah, that's what it, cheer them 20:16 on every step of the way. 20:17 Talk a little bit more about some of the innovative ways 20:21 because we don't want to do things, 20:23 we won't be caught in doing things 20:24 like our grandfathers did it 20:27 or, you know, other people did it, 20:28 our elders did it. 20:30 What kind of innovative ways 20:31 can we do as well to be effective 20:35 as it relates to mentorship 20:37 and reaching our urban youth? 20:39 You know, young people like to be independent. 20:41 They love to drive. 20:43 And so what I have done, I have assisted in teaching 20:47 some of the young people in my church, how to drive. 20:49 Okay. 20:51 You know, took them out in my car, 20:53 bought the cones, spend the time, you know, 20:57 not overtly mentoring them but just befriending them. 21:02 And it's amazing how much they appreciate that. 21:05 As a matter of fact, one of the young person 21:07 when she passed her driving test, 21:09 she sent me a text. 21:11 She said, "Thank you so much. I passed my exam." 21:13 That's all right. That's felt good. 21:15 Yeah, yeah. 21:16 And again, it goes back to you investing time. 21:18 Absolutely. That's one thing. 21:20 What else can we do? 21:21 Let's kind of grew up the ideas 21:22 because somebody is listening to us right now, 21:24 and they wanted to know, "Okay, that was good example," 21:26 you know, driving 21:27 and that's gonna make a difference 21:29 in a young person's life. 21:30 What else, you know, have you all done? 21:31 Or what else can we do to really make a difference 21:35 in this generation that we live in right now? 21:37 And that's a good example. What else do you think? 21:39 Well, I help kids 21:42 with their homework once a week, 21:45 my daughter and some of her friends 21:47 get together at my house. 21:51 I'm really into the math thing 'cause I'm always... 21:54 I'm always hoping they have math. 21:57 But if they got social studies, 21:58 I'll plug in and help just the same. 22:01 And that has helped me to develop some relationships 22:05 with some her peers. 22:08 So that when I need to maybe approach them 22:11 on a more sensitive subject, 22:15 they're now open because they know 22:17 this man cares for us 22:19 because he takes time, we feed them, 22:21 my wife gets in the kitchen, 22:22 and she cooks food and feed them. 22:24 And they just love coming over and having that time, 22:27 and it opened them up. 22:29 So again, I think the key is us 22:33 being putting into them first, out of a sense of love. 22:38 And then it opens them up, 22:40 so that when there is a need for duty, 22:42 they're open to hear it from you. 22:44 You know, also I've taken some of my clients 22:48 to my daughter's classroom. 22:50 And I've had them share their experiences 22:54 in terms of battling substance abuse 22:58 and dealing with peer pressure. 23:00 And I can't tell you how proud my daughter 23:03 was of me coming into her classroom 23:05 because here was her dad doing something positive. 23:09 So I think that's a great way 23:11 of providing mentorship to our kids. 23:14 That's good. That's good. 23:16 Another way that I've done is just flat out, 23:19 hanging out with them. 23:21 Okay. I just go where they go. 23:23 Hang out. Whoa, there's bounds. 23:25 There was one opportunity, maybe we talk about it later 23:29 where I kind of let things go. 23:31 I want it to be that fly on the wall. 23:32 And it really opened my eyes out. 23:35 But that's not for the faint hearted. 23:36 I'll tell you that. 23:37 But literally just getting in their world, 23:40 I've heard the saying it say, doing life with them 23:43 and just hanging out with their friends, 23:45 getting to know them, allowing them to be comfortable 23:48 because when they get comfortable 23:50 with you to that point where they can bring 23:52 you around their friends, 23:53 now you get to see their worldview, 23:55 that you get to see what shapes their thoughts, 23:59 what shapes their minds, and what influences them. 24:02 And then on the flip side, 24:04 not only hanging out with them there, 24:06 but letting them hang out with you and your friends. 24:08 A lot of times when we're working with, 24:10 especially urban youth, 24:12 we're kind of afraid to bring them into our own 24:15 and then they go missing, you know? 24:16 I don't want to, you know... 24:17 Sure. Sure. 24:19 But bringing them in and including them 24:21 in some of the activities with your friends 24:22 and letting them experience 24:24 what it is like to be a grown man, you know? 24:27 Okay. Okay. That's good. That's good. 24:29 You know, I strongly believe my whole heart 24:31 that every Joshua needs a Moses. 24:35 Every Joshua needs a Moses. 24:37 And I say that to say that, you know, 24:40 even as a young preacher, you know, 24:43 by no means do I know at all, and I have to be able to, 24:46 you know, call on some people with experience. 24:49 And I think, God, that I have people in my life 24:51 that I'm able to call, you know, in to, say, 24:53 you know, what do you think about such and such, 24:56 and a lot of times, I say, "You know what, 24:58 you're killing yourself," you know? 25:00 Don't do it that way. 25:01 We think, you know, what's happening right now. 25:03 And I had to say, you know, in the last three minutes 25:06 or so we have left is that what has your experience 25:10 been with a mentor, 25:12 your own personal experience? 25:14 Have you had somebody in your corner 25:16 that cheered you on? 25:17 Because Brandon as a business exec, 25:20 you know, retired, your own company now, 25:22 you're very successful. 25:24 And we praise God for that. 25:25 And Dr. King, clinical psychologist, 25:28 several degrees as well, in your own way, 25:30 you are extremely successful as well. 25:33 And Muta, your same thing with Elijah 3 Ministries, 25:36 executive director, and steering young people, 25:38 God has blessed you, 25:40 and I know God's blessed me as well. 25:41 Have there been people in your corner that said, 25:44 "You can do it," 25:46 what's the experience been like? 25:48 You know, I can look back to an elder in my church, 25:52 maybe he was about, 25:53 maybe six or seven years my senior. 25:56 And I've never forgotten his words of encouragement. 26:01 He has never criticized me. 26:04 And even when I didn't quite do it 26:06 the way he expected, 26:08 he always approached you with humor. 26:10 That go, "Hmm, that wasn't so good 26:12 so how are you gonna better that the next time around?" 26:14 Okay. 26:15 And, you know, he has been pivotal in allowing me 26:19 to remain in the church and allowing me to be focused. 26:23 And you know, 26:24 just because of his words of encouragement, 26:27 as opposed to discouragement. 26:28 Okay, that's good. 26:30 I've never had anybody go officially on record 26:34 as my mentor. 26:35 But what when I look back over my life, 26:38 I see people who naturally made it 26:41 their business to put some guidance in my life 26:45 at strategic points in time, sometimes for, 26:47 periods of time and then out. 26:50 But they were there. 26:52 And in every phase, in work, in education, you name it. 26:57 I can identify people who serve that role for me. 27:00 Okay. Okay. 27:01 What you say? I was definitely. 27:03 Am I allowed to mention names? Yeah, sure. 27:05 'Cause I will. Yeah. 27:07 Three men who've been very significant in my life 27:09 is Jason North, Pastor Jason North, 27:11 Huntsville Lake Region Conference, 27:12 Darnell Allen, and Earl Abrams. 27:16 These men have been real influential 27:20 into bringing me to where I am sitting right here 27:23 by the grace of God 27:24 working through these three gentlemen. 27:27 So they've just been amazing. 27:30 Until this day, 27:31 they still are men who I look up to. 27:32 And they're only what, nine years older than me? 27:35 Okay. Okay. 27:36 You know, my friends, it's interesting that 27:39 as we sit here, 27:41 and we recognize that every perfect gift 27:43 and every gift has come again from God. 27:45 We don't think ourselves to be higher than anybody else. 27:48 But we do recognize that we are blessed. 27:51 No matter what, where you are alive, 27:52 you are blessed to be a blessing. 27:56 I want to challenge you to look around, 27:57 even in your own household 27:59 or on the outside of your household, 28:01 and see who can you make a difference with, 28:04 and the time that God has given you. 28:06 Until next time, I'm Pastor William Lee. 28:07 And we thank you so much for joining us 28:10 in today's discussion. 28:12 Until next time, may God bless you 28:13 and keep you in His loving grace. |
Revised 2023-04-13